Jake's Is Closing its Doors

Jacobson Stores Inc. (Jackson, Mich.) has received bankruptcy court authorization to begin liquidating over $100 million of merchandise inventory in its 18 remaining stores. Closing sales begin today.

The news comes less than a month after the 134-year-old retailer announced it would liquidate unless it found a suitable buyer for its operations.

Jacobson's first filed for bankruptcy protection in January 2002. It closed five of its 23 stores at the time, but asserted that $130 million in financing available to it would permit a successful reorganization while it continued to operate. But the shaky retail climate — especially for upscale merchandise — undermined those hopes. During that time, it received not a single proposal to purchase the business as a going concern.